The Cardano community recently made history by directly approving the funding of core development through its on-chain treasury.
In a remarkable development, the community voted overwhelmingly in support of Input | Output Engineering’s (IOE) core development proposal, which revolves around enhancing interoperability, scalability, and developer experience.
Proposal Passes Overwhelmingly
In particular, the proposal passed with 74.01% of the total 200 votes. While seven DReps were against the proposal, another seven chose to abstain from the exercise.
Following the passage of the proposal, 96.81 million ADA coins will be withdrawn from Cardano’s treasury and allocated to the IOE for core protocol development in stages. The dollar value of these Cardano tokens is equivalent to $70.9 million as ADA trades at $0.7324.
The Cardano community just made history.
For the first time ever, core development funding has been directly approved by the community – ushering in a new era of decentralized governance.
Thank you all for your support. This is more than a vote of confidence, it’s a shared…
— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) August 2, 2025
Tim Harrison, the EVP of Ecosystem and Community at Input | Output, emphasized that the approval marks the first time the community is directly funding core protocol development.
“This vote of confidence empowers us to move forward with shared responsibility, full transparency, and a renewed commitment to building an open, resilient ecosystem,” he said.
Scope of Development Plan
Notably, the scope of the IOE’s development plan cuts across three specific areas: interoperability, developer experience, and scalability. The team will undertake key initiatives across major Cardano ecosystem projects.
It intends to roll out a performance upgrade to Ouroboros Leios to unlock higher throughput, while also enhancing Mithril to lower bootstrap times and drive adoption.
Other key projects that will see enhancements include Hydra and Project Acropolis. In addition, the IOE will optimize overall network performance, boost sync time, mitigate RAM usage, and reduce operational costs for stake pool operators (SPOs).
Transparency and Mode of Payment
Even though the community approved the IOE’s budget, the funding will be based on completed milestones. Intersect, a member-based organization of the Cardano ecosystem, will serve as an independent administrator of the funding.
Both Intersect and the IOE will specify the quarterly milestones for each upcoming quarter. The IOE expects to receive payments upon achieving the agreed milestones.
To keep the community informed, the IOE will publish monthly updates about ongoing developments, highlighting its engineering timesheets, as well as quarterly budget breakdowns.
Earlier this year, Cardano’s 2025 budget allocation sparked debate after the Cardano Foundation proposed reducing Intersect’s recommended funding for Input Output by 30%.
The proposal ignited outrage with some community members alleging that the suggestion undermined the IOG. However, the Cardano Foundation dismissed these claims, emphasizing that its proposal was a diligent review and does not stem from bias.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
